By 11:30 am it became obvious that we had to find a route in the shade since we were litterally cooking on the south facing wall. Good thing we remembered there was a fun chimney to climb down the crag with a nice shady spot beside it to hang out.

Mathilde giving grandma Tybee some love. She is the sweetest dog ever.

It's so nice to be able to park right by the canyon rim and set up the top ropes. The routes are short (30') and nothing extraordinary, but the spot is right by the town, there is no approach walk and the view is really nice.

Since we only had one day of rock climbing in St. George this year (and since JF cannot lead because of his broken finger), we decided to come back to Green Valley Gap. We knew the place from last year and knew we could easily set up top ropes from the top of the canyon.

It was fun to have Ching and Jerud with us and we had a fun relaxing day hanging out at this beautiful crag. They even installed a zip line in the *gap* and we could see people sliding down it as we climbed. There is also a mountain bike trail right around the canyon - namely the Zen Trail (black) and the Barrel trails. Isa and Martin came to join us after they rode Bearclaw Poppy. There are so many trails and crags to explore in St. George. We will come back longer next time. There simply doesn't seem to be a good boondocking spot close enough with good signal. If you know one, leave a comment!

What we are learning is that the best way by far to find out where to go climbing is to visit the local rock climbing/outdoor store. We knew that St. George is the place in the United States where there is the biggest concentration of sport climbing routes, but even after hours of online research and looking through many physical guidebooks at the library, we could not find clear information on what we were looking for. A 30 minute visit at the Desert Rat store and we had found the perfect spot to set two ropes side by side, with a beautiful approach walk, and in a less crowded spot (it is Spring Break here...). While we were there, Mara decided to use her money to buy herself some (pink!) rock climbing shoes (we were all sharing mine)! She was flying up the wall!

We are already reaching the point where my girls are starting to be stronger (and more confident!) than I am in rock climbing and mountain biking... A great lesson in humility. Needless to say, I am very proud of them and amazed at what they can do!

Rock climbing at Green Valley Gap

Rock climbing in Green Valley Gap, St. George, Utah